Veiled Moon Extras
by Ghostface211
Summary: The home for omakes, side-stories, What Ifs, and other bits of info for the main story of Veiled Moon.
1. Chapter Four Omake

"Oh? Thank you Tessai," Isshin said in surprise as Tessai took his coat.

Tessai grunted in acknowledgement and raised an arm for the direction that Isshin should go in.

Nodding, Isshin walked to the room where Urahara and no doubt Yoruichi would be at. Coming to and sliding the door open, he inched his head in and saw both sitting at his short table waiting for him.

"Hoh, you've finally arrived, Kurosaki-kun. Yoruichi-san and I have been waiting for some time." Urahara called out as he noticed him.

Indeed it seemed they had, as both Urahara and Yoruichi, in her human form and wearing her black jumpsuit sans jacket were treating themselves to tea and several miscellaneous sweets. "Sorry, sorry," Isshin mock grumbled as he made his way to the table and sat down, crossing his legs before settling.

"Would you like to try the cookies?" Urahara asked. "Tessai really outdid himself this time."

"Don't mind if I do," Isshin replied as he took the offered snack. "So I hear my boy brought Uzume-chan here," Isshin started off, nibbling on the treat.

Urahara let out a small whistle at the honorific, "Oh, Uzume-'chan'? Like her that much already?"

"What's not to like?" he grinned. "She's easy on the eyes, made my boy finally find his hormones, and has him wrapped around her little finger even if he's too slow to realize it! She's everything I could want in a daughter-in-law!"

Urahara chucked, "Sounds a lot like his father if you ask me."

"Please!" Isshin snorted. "I knew I was whipped with Masaki. I just acted that was because she found it funny."

Yoruichi looked at him deadpan. "I seem to recall one night of you bawling your eyes out at the front door because she kicked you outta the house for...what was that again...," she asked and turned her head around and looked up to the ceiling with a finger on her chin.

"It was a joke, Yoruichi! A joke!" Isshin retorted. "You know how she was with her crazy sense of humor!"

-SNAP-

Both looked at Urahara who had snapped his fan open and began to lightly fan himself and cover his face at the same time, hiding all but his amused eyes. "Hoh~? I remember that night, you ended up crawling all the way over here-"

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Isshin laughed, eyes roving distractedly. "That's my Masaki! Always a kidder! It's why I love her!"

"So you say, Kurosaki-kun. So you say," Urahara trailed off for a moment before he looked into Isshin's eyes. "Still, at least Masaki was fully human."

Isshin grunted as he took another cookie. "So you noticed that too, eh," he asked before taking a bite, the crunch loud enough to hear.

"Come now, Kurosaki-kun, surely you give us more credit than that."

"Well considering it's my boy we're talking about here, I feared him with a woman could've distracted you too much," Isshin answered with a simple shrug. "So what do you make of her?"

"While she's definitely not human, she not altogether alien, from what I could tell," Yoruichi mentioned, a hand on her chin and her eyes unfocused as she was lost in thought. "I could sense the bond he mentioned, along with minute traces of Ichigo's reiatsu in her own aura. It's odd, but I could swear I've felt something similar before."

"Ichigo's reiatsu?" Isshin asked.

"Don't play coy," Yoruichi looked at him, not quite glaring yet. "I know you've at least felt that one small shard he still has left. Extremely weak, so faint you'd need to concentrate hard for several minutes just to get a bead on it." '_Still... I don't know if I'm imagining things but it felt almost... larger when I saw him earlier than when I saw him last,_' She thought to herself.

"That's the point," Isshin retorted. "How is it that she has any bit of Ichigo's reiatsu in her in the first place? That shard is so damn small, if it did leave him, he should be back to square one."

"Your son did mention that she was bonded to him, and that there were others like her finding other humans, presumably non-spiritually aware, and bonding to them as well. Apparently this bond helps them to use their capabilities to their furthest extent. Whether or not they absorb their partner's strength is a mystery, unless we manage to find one and examine them."

"Let's put that aside for the moment," Isshin grunted as he turned back to Urahara. "How your little project coming along?"

A sigh greeted him as Urahara reached up to palm his cap and tip it a bit lower as he brought his own head down slightly. "Well, good news is there was some progress. Kuchiki-san's reiatsu was absorbed easily, however there are still some issues on how much it will absorb until it cuts itself off."

"What happened?"

"The blade began to absorb too quickly and too much, almost different to when I initially allowed it to absorb mine." He put a hand under his chin and looked slightly upwards and began mumbling to himself. "It could be related to wavelength, as if knowing the contributors and their strength would be different, hmm..."

"Is Rukia-chan all right?" Isshin asked.

"She looked like hell when she saw the boy off," Yoruichi remarked.

Urahara had the grace to wince under his hat at Yoruichi's comment. "Thankfully, she'll make a full recovery, and if what I think happened it shouldn't take too long to correct, however..." he trailed off as he looked to the side in thought.

"However what?" Isshin pressed.

His eyes flickered to Isshin, serious. "Are you certain you still want to pursue this, Kurosaki-san? Your son has his chance at a normal life. Do you really want to drag him back into Soul Society politics when he has this chance in front of him?"

"I want the option there for him, should he wish for it," Isshin answered. "Rest assured, if he wants nothing more than a life of peace he's earned that for three lifetimes. But I know what my son is. And should such a need for his gifts arise again..."

"True enough. Though, for once Soul Society's politics are in his favor. I had visited a month ago with my progress report to the Commander-General, and although he was persistent in moving our experiment along, he was adamant that no action be taken without his consent."

Yoruichi snorted with a rueful smile. "Even with that, its easy to tell that he's changed a bit. Ichigo is one special kid, Isshin."

"I know he is," Isshin smiled. "He's my son after all."

After a moment Urahara continued. "Still, I will admit to disappointment. I had hoped to be finished in time for his graduation. Kuchiki-san was most insistent on it and not having it ready galls me more than I care to admit."

"Kisuke, I told you already. Don't beat yourself over it, you had your hands full with the Asagiri Incident".

"It took me only a week and a half to help solve that", he mentioned.

"The Commander-General had you working along with Kurotsuchi, and I don't doubt that it was also finished that quickly because Mayuri wanted you out. Not to mention the reports you had to do", Yoruichi pointed out.

Isshin chucked a bit, "Never would have thought you would do anything for the Soul Society again after all you went through."

"Oh you know me," Urahara smiled at Isshin. "I would work with the devil himself if the price was right."

"True enough." Isshin nodded. "Still, this might be for the best. With my new daughter in the picture, there's no need for her to get entangled with the affairs of Soul Society. Besides, if something goes down that doesn't affect the balance of life and death here, the old man might just deny us the use of that sword." After a moment he sighed, standing up and stretching his back slightly. and grinned "Whelp, I think it's about time for me to get going home."

Urahara looked up from beneath the brim of his hat. "Hoh? Why so soon, Kurosaki-san? You only just got here."

Isshin turned to him, his grin even bigger. "I gotta go find out what kind of trap the boy laid out for me." He then laughed. "Though I can't believe he actually told me about it before hand! I better go find out before its too late and it somehow trips the girls up."

"Kurosaki-kun, I'm afraid it's already much, much too late to worry about that," Urahara ominously replied, his eyes now being hidden by the brim of his cap as he tilted his head down. Though he too couldn't see, it wasn't hard to miss the confusion on his friend's face as he stood there with his hand in the grip slot.

"Something else we need to talk about, Kisuke?" Isshin replied confused.

"It seems you've been a naughty boy, Kurosaki-san," Urahara said as he picked up his closed hand fan. "A very, very naughty boy," he finished before snapping the fan open and raised his other hand palm up slowly.

Isshin blinked in confusion at Kisuke's words, "I don't get-"

"Bakudo #63, Sajou Sabaku," he nearly whispered and Isshin's eyes snapped wide open as Urahara's hand snapped shut.

"KISU-UGH!" Isshin got out as a thick, almost chain shaped glowing golden rope raced forward to entwine Isshin tight, pinning his arms to his body and causing him to teeter over dangerously, causing Isshin to hop around several times throwing his upper body in the opposite direction to keep from falling over several times.

"KI-KISUKE! WHAT THE HELL, MAN? YORUICHI!" he suddenly shouted as the Goddess of Flash suddenly appeared behind him from where she was sitting just an instant before. "YORUI-EAAGHHH!" he screamed as she grabbed his cheeks and started pulling. "YOUUIIIEEeeeEEEE! !" he screeched as she tightened further.

Giving him a brilliant smile her words were just the opposite of just how happy she appeared. "You. Have. Been. A. Baaaaaaaaaaaaa~d boy, Isshin. Tessai! Ururu! Jinta!"

"**HA!**" a loud grunt came as the shouji door suddenly slid open with a loud bang and there stood Tessai center with Ururu to his left looking embarrassed while carrying some sort of strange contraption while Jinta stood on his right carrying the same thing with an evil grin on his face.

"Finally!" Jinta shouted. "I've been waiting all day to use this!"

"KI-KISUKE!" Isshin shouted as best he could when Yoruichi released his cheeks. About to shout again he gave a surprised yelp as Tessai lifted him up on his shoulders as if he were a live battering ram. "KISUKE!"

"Oh, Kurosaki-kun, Kurosaki-kun," Urahara said already at the front of the door. Tessai turned so Isshin would be facing him and Isshin screamed at his head nearly hitting a few things as he whirled around.

Seeing Kisuke in front of him, he belted out, "Kisuke, what the hell is this?"

"Hoh? You don't know? Quite simply put, an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth."

"What!" Isshin squawked.

Urahara leaned and cupped his face with his open fan as if to whisper a secret. "That was very, very mean of you Kurosaki-kun... to play and twist Uzume-san and Kurosaki-san's feelings like that."

_"Oh dad!"_

Isshin's already widened eyes opened further.

"So imagine my shock at his story when he told me," Urahara said before smiling, "and imagine his smile as I told him that I have new hollow fighting equipment that needs testing! All I needed was a live guinea pig and Kurosaki-kun gave me a wonderful one."

_"Enjoy tonight," Ichigo said before turning forward and walking through the turnstile with Uzume following a second later. _

"Ki-Kisuke," Isshin whispered, sweat pouring from his forehead.

"Don't worry, you should come out fine. You may walk funny for a few days but I'd say that's a fair trade of pain," Urahara said while turning around, his haori fluttering as he did so.

"Kisukeeeee", Isshin whined as Tessai started forward as he followed Urahara.

"Complaints," Urahara said turning slightly, snapping the fan shut with an audible snap and lowered his voice, "are useless."

Isshin's cries went unheard of as a grinning Yoruichi opened and hopped down into his secret training grounds while the others quickly followed after her.  
=================

_**Author's Notes**_:

Betcha thought we forgot Isshin didn't ya?

Well anyways, this omake is cannon to the main storyline of Veiled Moon. It's an omake solely due to the fact that it couldn't be fit into the main story. I've set things up like this for future omakes, cannon as well as non-cannon, for easy finding. I also plan to have side-stories and possible what-if scenarios in this area as well.

I would also warn you all not to expect chapter five of Veiled Moon for a while. It's gonna be another whopper. I hope not to be as long as chapter four was, but that was more a case of real life issues cropping up and delaying things. Hopefully it doesn't cause too many problems, but you never know.

In any case, thanks for your continued support, and do send any care packages to Isshin. He's gonna be needing them for a while. :3c


	2. Sekirei Bios Part One

_Sekirei #10_

_Uzume_

_"The Girl Next Door"_

* * *

Japanese Name : 鈿女

Gender: Female

Voiced by : Nabatame Hitomi(Japanese), Jamie Marchi(English)

Ashikabi: Ichigo Kurosaki

Norito: Through this shawl contracted to me, I shall dance and purify the nigtmares of my Ashikabi!

B: 95

W: 57

H: 90

Height: 5'4.5"

Weight: 45kg

Hobbies: Cosplay

Favorite food: Okonmiyaki

Most valuable: Ichigo Kurosaki

Fears the most: Loneliness, The Death of Ichigo Kurosaki

_**"When I fight, I do it in style, and I never lose!"**_

Sekirei Number Ten Uzume is the first member of Ichigo's Sekirei harem.

Cheerful, A tease, gorgeous, very upbeat, and optimistic. That is what describes this buxom young woman to a 'T', and has so utterly blindsided Ichigo that he can't help but notice.

Amongst the first Sekirei to be released, she had helped Matsu in her escape with one of the Jinki. Due to this, she would come to live at Izumo and be placed under Miya's protection in case MBI would come after her for the theft. Fortunately for her, they never did and she is able to move about the Capitol like any other normal Sekirei seeking their Ashikabi (unlike Matsu, who is scared spitless that MBI would immediately close in on her). Going out into the open would have other issues, namely Seo's girls Hikari and Hibiki, who attack unwinged Sekirei in hopes of keeping them out of participating in Minaka's cruel game.

It was on such chase that fate would smile on her and give her a change in direction and altering her course which saw many of her counterparts come to a cruel end. She encounter Ichigo during a random encounter and his actions during their meeting eventually led to him being winged by her. Like a whirlwind, she has made an impact on Ichigo's world that he never expected. Over the past few months, she has come to know her beloved Ashikabi well, but still has a long way to come in fully understanding the reasons her Ichigo acts the way he does.

Still, she has come to make the scowling former substitute shinigami smile a bit more than he used to, so she has made some miraculous strides in that respect. With the new addition of Ikki however, one wonders how she will handle the new wrinkle in her life.

Uzume is a kind, trustworthy, and loving woman outside of battle but can be violent and ruthless in battle. She is unquestionably loyal to her family and friends, but relentless towards her enemies. She loves and honors her ashikabi Ichigo and hopes to live up to the expectations her 'papa' Isshin has for her. However, she is miffed and curious as to the secrets that Ichigo and his friends are keeping from her at this point in time. As such, her battle to earn Ichigo's complete love and trust continue.

* * *

Author's Notes:

_Tits that awesome deserve better than that._

I'm gonna learn to watch what I say one of these days…

This fic was born out of a desire to advert Uzume's tragic fate in the series, even if I'm more or less over it now. I do wonder if the fact that I'm over it is due to this fic at times. In any case, I hope you all enjoy the journey that this young woman will undergo in her quest to get Ichigo to smile as he used to before Masaki's death at Grand Fissure's hands.

_Words From Wheeljack:_

Blame Uzume for this fic. Seriously.

Both Ghostface and I were watching Sekirei to see her cut down in Pure Engagement and to our dismay found it was to be a prelude to what happened to her in the manga a scant few weeks later. Both of us cried bullshit to what had happened as both of us like Uzume very much and felt she had been shortchanged big-time. Despite the sentiment being shared oddly enough the Sekirei fan fiction community, while small, didn't really have Uzume finding a way to a better life, either with Chiho or another Ashikabi (and no, we have not forgotten that girl either).

About the same time, Ichigo was finishing his battle with Aizen, and the manga had just gone on a three week break with Ichigo's victory and loss of powers. So Ghost comes to me one day and says, "What do you think could be crossed over with Sekirei?" and soon enough mentioned Bleach. Musubi had been mentioned briefly, but we both know it was just a name that had to be thrown out to get out of the way, as we both never thought twice about Minato's first, but Uzume was always the one who meant to have second billing in this story.

And with imagination sparked, Veiled Moon came about, for better or worse as it had both of us put our own stories on hiatus ('Stranger Than Fiction, Summoned Sergeant Chronicles, and Nights over Roshtaria for Ghost', 'Blessings In Disguise for me'), but from the looks of it so far people seem to be pleased.

* * *

_Sekirei #19_

_Ikki _

_"The Idiot Genki Heroine"_

* * *

Japanese Name : 伊岐

Gender: Female

Voiced by (Per authors wishes, as none listed for official): Ai Nonaka (Japanese), Kristi Bingham (English)

Ashikabi: Ichigo Kurosaki

Norito: N/A

B: 91

W: 58

H: 89

Height: 5'3"

Weight: 44kg

Hobbies: Training, watching TV

Favorite food: Sashimi

Most valuable: Ichigo Kurosaki, Nanaha

Hates the most: Karasuba, Betrayal

_**"Underestimate my strength, huh? You're dumber than you look!"**_

Sekirei Number Nineteen: Ikki, is the second member of Ichigo's developing Sekirei harem.

When she awoke, she quickly befriended her fellow Sekirei Nanaha and Narashino. They shared the same tuner and as they adjusted to human cultures and norms Ikki quickly declared herself the elder sister of the trio and made an oath to become as strong as she could become in order to be able to protect her little sisters.

When they were eventually released she made a vow to ensure that she and her sisters would all be winged by the same Ashikabi. A few months after their release however Narashino reacted to and was winged by Tsudanuma Osamu, and the sisterly trio was made a duo. Though happy for her sister Sekirei Ikki was emotionally shaken by this event, seeing it as a failure of herself and her words. To help soothe herself, she outwardly called it a betrayal of their bonds, despite the fact she doesn't mean it. Nanaha however sees right through it for what it is and lets her believe it, knowing its only to soothe her. As such Ikki is determined to ensure that she and her sister Nanaha are eventually winged by the same Ashikabi.

Ikki's style of speech seem to indicate that she is arrogant, a little devil-may-care and very cocksure of herself. She is also prone to inserting her foot into her mouth to a point where Nanaha has to violently put her in line. Ikki has a lot of pride in her strength, to the point of overconfidence at times. Although she is dense, Ikki is adept at learning from her mistakes in a fight and can fix them before or during the next encounter.

Ikki lacks experience in social situations, leading her to speak and act on her mind without inhibition often. This lack of social grace leads many people, even Nanaha sometimes, to believe her to be less considerate than she truly is. She can also be lackadaisical at times, much to her sister's exasperation. However Ikki is quite emotional, more often than not due to following her heart rather than her head.

Still, she is loving and loyal to those she cares for, and is willing to lay down her life for those she loves if necessary. Ikki never uses trickery and fights fairly with all her power, never holding back, all the while expecting her opponents to follow the same conduct. She fights with two kodachi blades, and has a slight wind affinity. The blades serve as a medium to bring out her elemental abilities.

* * *

_Words From Wheeljack:_

Our third Sekirei, this one from Ghost, to have been proposed to be one of Ichigo's Sekirei. She managed to last long enough to make the cut - but just barely. Her current incarnation is quite different from what we had initially thought she would be. If not for Ghostface's idea later on for Nanaha, and a sort of odd ball duo to form between the two she may have fallen through the cracks.

She was always to be Ichigo's second Sekirei to be winged, but the manner of which is a bit different, but the idea was altered, split and reused for her scene on the roof in chapter 5 and later on with Karasuba (though the fight with Karasuba came later).


	3. What If 1: Benitsubasa has a problem

It has been said that Teito was a city of layers, and that MBI headquarters was its newest and greatest crown jewel. It was a beautiful tower, and the definition of state of the art if a building could claim such a title. Some even proclaimed it to be more magnificent than many of it's western contemporaries. More than anything, the tower represented the new order and new way of things in this society today.

Inside, the tower built by the technological wonder storm that MBI had become were as many amenities that one could imagine. Atop of the many laboratories, offices, and research facilities that they hosted were a plethora of gymnasiums, living quarters, and many other faculties that one would expect to find in a deluxe penthouse, not a place of work.

But when one considers this is also the headquarters for the Sekirei game, the surprise diminishes greatly.

Inside one of the living quarters, the sounds of someone eating could be heard. It was a mix of an office room with a normal residential home, or at least one with as much décor of a grand hotel. Two women sat in what would be considered the living room, absorbed in their business. One sat cross-legged on the couch, idly eating a box of pocky and looking out the window of the room with a dazed detachment, magazines strewn about haphazardly amongst empty boxes and bags of candy and chips.

Across the room the other woman sat, saying nothing as she ran her naked blade across the millstone before her. She took a few swipes on the material before she would stop, wet the stone and continue as she diligently sharpened her weapon.

Both were so engrossed with their preoccupation that they did not take notice of a thumping sound that seemed to be getting louder.

-WHAM-

Both Haihane and Karasuba looked up to see Benitsubasa march forward through the door with her arm still outstretched. Leaving a spider web of cracks where the doorknob impacted, the door itself bounced back quick enough to be caught by her outstretched hand and slammed backwards to shut it by the walking girl.

Standing at five foot two inches tall, she had a petite frame that belied the awesome physical power she had at her fingertips. Her stunning pink eyes were currently narrowed in anger and her stiff arms held her balled fists as she stomped her way passed her two teammates. She had bright pink hair, the same color as her eyes, that had been pulled back into a ponytail that formed at the left-back side of her head. Despite being pulled back, she had left enough of her bangs free to stylize by having it combed from the right side of her head to the left with two locks of hair framing her face. They bounced as the girl continued to stomp her way to her room, growling to the other two Sekirei without turning to acknowledge them.

Seeing her mood Haihane lifted a hand to her face to semi cover her grinning face and catch any falling crumbs. "What's wrong Benitsubasa? Did someone mistake you for a boy again?" She asked, her shoulders moving up and down as she snickered, bits of food spitting out as she needled her teammate.

Benitsubasa turned to glare at her, baring her teeth and giving her a wide-eyed look of rage that would have many others pissing in their pants, but not Haihane. Haihane continued to snicker as Benitsubasa made her way to her room and slammed the door shut behind her.

The show done, Haihane settled down and continued to stare at the door that Benitsubasa had slammed shut. "She's at it again," she commented.

After a minute passed by Karasuba looked up from her blade to Haihane. "Were you talking to me?" she asked.

Haihane shrugged in reply, knowing the longest member of the Disciplinary Squad didn't care one way or the other. "You haven't noticed?"

Karasuba went back to her blade. "I don't care either way."

And Haihane's observations prove correct again as she shrugged away the answer and stared at the door for another minute before putting another pocky stick into her mouth and resumed chewing.

Inside her room Benitsubasa stood at her closet breathing hard. Sweat trickled down her brow as she concentrated on what she needed to do. Grabbing her yellow gi she tossed it on her bed and began to strip. Once skimmed down to her panties she walked towards her bed and listed, the room suddenly leaning to one side as her arms shot out towards the bed for support. Arched over the bed her head fell low and her ponytail spilled onto her bed as she kept her position, deigning to only have one knee provide extra support by pressing it against the side of her bed; her pride still enough to keep it from the top and lying on her bed as she tried to regain control.

Opening her eyes she saw from an upside-down point of view her legs and the tips of her breasts pointing downward as she continued to take in large gulps of air for a few more minutes as she began to regain control over her body and equilibrium. Lifting herself off her bed she stood without teetering an wiped her head and the sweat off and grabbed the sports bra to put it on. She growled as she could almost hear Haihane poke fun at her for that. She was by no means flat, but her breasts were small enough that to her utter chagrin and one particular teammate's pleasure that they could be poked fun at.

Soon enough she was tightening her gi's belt and her padded red fingerless fighting gloves. On her feet, white tennis shoes with a pink trim rested, matching her hair appropriately as she made her way to her next destination. Not caring about her future teammates and what they may be doing she slammed the door open and once more began to stomp towards the door to the main hallway of MBI's Residential section of MBI Tower.

"Going to the gym?" Haihane asked, causing Benitsubasa to pause in her march to glare back. Was she stupid? She had her gi on, where else could she go? Instead the pale Sekirei tittered once more with narrow eyes. "What happened to make you take so long to put that on?"

Snorting Benitsubasa turned with a huff and continued to the door.

"It was quiet the whole time, so it couldn't be you playing with yourself again."

And with that she stiffly came to a stop and shakily turned her head to Haihane, her expression far scarier than the one she gave when she came in. "I'll kill you, she said in a low voice and a vein popping out of her forehead.

"So what's wrong?" Haihane asked as if Benitsubasa never spoke and crunching another pocky stick.

Eyes twitching, Benitsubasa turned and grabbed the doorknob so hard the metal knob twisted as if it were play-doe and was nearly pulled out the door as it was yanked.

-CRASH-

Haihane winced as the door was slammed so hard the sides shattered into splinters and the doorknob now hung loosely as the door bounced back a bit, no longer having anywhere to lock to.

Karasuba lifted her head from her blade and opened her eyes momentarily before closing them again to turn to Haihane. "Now that you mention it, she has been acting strange now has she?"

"I thought you didn't care?"

"You're right," Karasuba answered and resumed sharpening her katana.

* * *

Damnit...

Her gloved fists slammed into the thick rope in a blurred sequence of face and body shots. The seven foot tall, and five foot thick concrete makawara didn't give much, but the entire foundation of the thing shook. Her opponent would have had cracked ribs and been missing teeth.

Damnit...

Her left foot, turned out, shot forward, her heel slamming into lower part of the striking post. Then she was gliding forward, smooth and fast, her right knee crushing into the mid section of the makawara. Right foot crossed behind left, stepping backwards, then she was spinning around to the left, right leg hooking out and her right heel slammed into the rope-covered cement. This time the floor groaned, dust exploding from the makawara and floor, even though the striking post was anchored directly to the foundation.

A sekirei's shin would have been cracked, his or her diaphragm bruised, and s/he would have had to pull her heel *out *of their temple.

Why you...? Why now...?

Her left fist tightened as she shot forward, her whole body rocketing like a bullet, fist ripping through layers of four inch thick roped that could have stopped a katana. Her shoulders heaving, sweat gleaming on her tanned face, Benitsubasa slumped into a slightly glum cross-legged posture, red fingerless gloved hands cupping her chin, arm resting on her thighs.

She was dressed like she normally did when she trained, a plain yellow sleeveless gi over a black sports bra that hugged her small but very firm and pert breasts tightly. Black Spandex pants covered her lower body, already showing her toned thigh muscles, and now that they were damp with sweat, those who cared to look could see the outlines of her panties.

She glared at the pulverized remains of the makawara, no closer to the answer to her question that had been haunting her for the past month. A month ago, she wouldn't have wasted so many movements on the thing. A month ago, she wouldn't have used so much power to make a mess of shredded rope and cracked concrete. A month ago, she had all the focus, discipline, and motivation she needed to reach her goal.

But that... was a month ago.

With a deep sigh the adorable young Sekirei stood, looking for a new outlet to focus her rage on. Her fists clenched tightly as she felt a presence behind her, and she let off a growl as she twisted around angrily at the unwelcome newcomer, "**WHAT DO YOU WANT?**" she barked.

Only to freeze in shock as she met Natsuo's surprised gaze. "Well... that's a new one."

"Ah... ah... ah..." she gaped with a hand held close to her mouth in response to the man who was to be the future Ashikabi of the third Disciplinary Squad.

"Well, at least you do keep the staff busy these days Benitsubasa." Natsuo commented as he made his way to the shell shocked Sekirei.

"Sorry," she muttered, looking away from the man with a slight flush on her cheeks.

""No harm, no foul," Natsuo shrugged off easily enough, recognizing the sincerity of her tone. "Still, I do wonder what's going on in that head of yours. You've been coming in here a lot recently. Are you nervous?"

"No," she said flatly as she hemmed a bit with her arms now around her back. She rolled on her heel as she continued, "At least not about that. I'm just... just a little to anxious I guess."

Natsuo frowned slightly at her lackluster response. "Anxious are you?" She nodded briefly, but still didn't turn to look at him. "You've been rather anxious for this past month then. Your damages are getting to be so high that even Sahashi-san is getting curious."

"I'll be more careful then," Benitsubasa bit back. "Was there something else you wanted Natsuo, or are we done here?"

Natsuo's eyebrow rose at the tone in the Sekirei's voice. There were times where he caught sight of her explosive ire when she was unaware of his presence, but this was the first time he seemed to be on the receiving end of it. "No... no that's all for now. I'll let you get back to your training then..." He trailed off looking toward the direction he entered. "Do remember that if you need anyone to talk too... MBI does have some of the finest psychiatrists in the world."

"I said-" she slapped her hands over her moth as she almost snapped at Natsuo again.

"You said?" Natsuo pried as he turned back to her.

"I said don't be silly!" Benitsubasa replied as she removed her hands from her lips and waved sheepishly at him and then gave the pharmaceutical department clerk a bright smile, "I'm fine. I just can't wait for that day is all!"

"Right..." Natsuo drawled. "Before I forget, there was the matter of the door to the Disciplinary Squad room. It was broken to pieces an hour ago."

"It's that idiot Haihane's fault." she replied quickly. "That idiot wasn't looking and broke it."

"Uh huh," Natsuo replied. "I wish you wouldn't call her names. You two are going to be partners soon after all."

"I'll stop calling her an idiot when she stops making me right," Benitsubasa replied as she crossed her arms and looked away and slightly upwards with a huff.

Natsuo just sighed at her reply, rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly. "It never ends does it? Just remember what I said ok?"

Benitsubasa simply nodded as Natsuo turned to leave the training facility. When he was gone, Benitsubasa's smile faded. Her false cheer replaced with a irritated frown. "Damn it... what's wrong with me?" she growled as her hands balled into fists. "I'm so close to getting everything I wanted, and I'm about to blow it."

She shot her right hand forward. The right-handed punch flew straight and true, fast and with enough force to shatter bone. "And I snapped at Natsuo. Natsuo! I... I never snapped at Natsuo before..." she moaned irritably as she brought her hands to her forehead and tilted her head downward and shook it. Within her mind's eye she saw Natsuo's smiling face... His cool gaze as he went about his business... His small smile when he was in his element... Even his stylish hair...

Everything about him screamed COOL to her. And he was going to be her Ashikabi soon. Her husband! The utter cherry on top of her dreams coming true. Despite one glaring flaw that she was absolutely sure she could fix he was all she ever wanted in an Ashikabi. This was all she ever wanted in her life. To have a cool, handsome Ashikabi and to be able to battle to her hearts content in the Sekirei game.

But that... was a month ago.

That was before she ran into...

_**HIM.**_

* * *

_Ghostface211 presents..._

_In Association with Wheeljack..._

_A Veiled Moon What If Scenario..._

_Benitsubasa has a problem..._

* * *

_One Month Ago..._

Benitsubasa strolled down the streets of Teito with a confident walk and a bright smile on her face, unmindful of the looks she received no doubt due to her hair and figure, she was certain. She was not in her Disciplinary Squad uniform this day but in more rather mundane clothing, or about as mundane as a simple tee shirt and blue jeans combo from a high end store to go along with a warm overcoat and pink wool boots to combat the cold winter air. Bags of clothing from the hottest stores this section of Teito had to offer swung to and fro in both hands as she happily entertained thoughts on how she'd cure Natsuo of his little... problem... that had a small chance of having problems when it was time for her to be winged. No doubt, one look at her in one of the items she had in her bags and that hottie of a man would proclaim her his forever and take her. She just needed one last thing to push it over the top.

She giggled aloud at that, bringing both hands to her face, which would block her sight momentarily if not for the fact that she had closed her eyes as she laughed, daydreams already in place and now a small formality before final victory! After all, she was Sekirei Number One-Hundred and Five. The pretty, powerful package known as Benitsubasa. There was nothing she could not fix nor no enemy she could defeat if she put her mind to it and used all of her strength. She was all but assured to be the next member of the Third Disciplinary Squad; the one that would watch over the Sekirei Game itself and the first one that would have an Ashikabi.

_'Ahhhhhh~ Natsuo-saamaaaa'_

Her mood only continued to climb as she reached her destination. There was no where to go but up from here.

* * *

_Elsewhere..._

Ichigo let out an irritated groan as he stood outside in the cold winter night, his hands rubbing his arms for warmth. "Damn it, what the hell is taking her so long?" he grumbled irritably. It hat been about two hours since he had put his latest apartment hunt to an end for this weekend, and true to his word he had returned to Izumo to check in on Uzume. Not long after, she had somehow convinced him to take her out on a night on the town. He was hesitant at first, and at first his fears were alleviated as she brought him to a nice out of the way spot for dinner. They even managed to have a nice conversation about what they had been doing the past week, and he even laughed at a story she had about Kagari and a rare irritate client of his.

It was fortunate the story ended without incident, as it would be awkward to harass the host club worker about it when he returned later. In spite of himself, the time they spent together was relaxing in a way. And more than once he found himself enjoying their time together. He actually forgot about the events that brought them together in the first place and simply saw it as a man and a woman enjoying themselves and having a good time.

Dare he say it... he was actually having a date and enjoying it.

So of course that had to come to a stop.

"I knew it was to good to be true," He grumbled again as he glared at the shop Uzume had disappeared into some time ago. A shop that was one of the places that screamed 'no men allowed.' At least no married men allowed... And even though Uzume claimed that they were married, ('Right...', his mind would scoff) there was no way in hell he would be caught dead going into a lingerie boutique. He'd rather fight off Aizen, Yammy, Grimjaww, and sad clown arrancar by himself with his hands tied behind his back and no Bankai than go into that den of femininity.

"And I can't believe she wanted me to come with her." he snorted. "Model my ass." He let off a sneeze, and gave the store another irritated glance as he caught another cloud of warmth that sped away from him from his sneeze as he rubbed his arms. "Shit, might as well go inside until she's done in there."

"Thank you for your patronage!"

Benitsubasa nodded twice with a happy sound of acknowledgement and bent down to grab all of her bags and nearly skipped her way to the exit. Lost in the euphoria of her daydreams with the hot little number she just purchased that she swung the door open and plowed into an near immovable object, both stumbling outside. She yelped as her foot had caught into something that caused her to twist and all, a few of her items falling around her and out of the bags.

Her breath caught as some of those items hit the cold hard and in some spots wet ground before her temper started to flare and the urge to kill began to bubble. Eyes twitching, her fists clenched as she brought herself up into a crouching position, one arm rested on a knee while a fist was held to the ground.

'_I'm gonna kill the dumb ass who did this! All my work for Natsuo ruined by this...this..._'

"Sorry 'bout that," came a deep male voice. "Didn't see you there."

So it was a male. Deluded fool. Only one man could touch her!

"Didn't see me there?" she growled as she quickly stood up and balled her fists and twirled around, ready to lay into him, her mind telling her it was likely some wretched, poor fat otaku who wanted to peak into the lingerie store.

"How dare you- you...you...," she instantly halted and started to choke.

He was tall. A bit taller than Natsuo with brown eyes that looked at her in concern. Atop his head was a bit of a spiked mess of hair, but it suited him extremely well, his bangs stopping short of his eyes sans a bit that fell a bit lower at the bridge of his nose. But the most amazing thing was the color of his hair, standing out as much as hers did, a bright shock of orange that screamed **'LOOK AT ME' **at this... this.. this...

The poor fat otaku image burned away like a flash flare as her mind saw this.. this...

'_**OHMYGOD, HE'S A HOTTIE!**_' her mind screamed at her as her body and heart began to heat up. Caught so off guard she fell limply to her knees in shock and stayed there with her mouth and eyes agape.

Ichigo blinked as the girl in front of him starred at him in wide eye shock. Almost as if she was starring into the face of god. "Uh... are... are you ok?

"N..." she muttered.

"N?" Ichigo repeated.

"N... not... not at...all," she managed to get out, her voice weak and light as her body began heating up to a point that she was sure that the snow underneath her was going to melt.

"Do you want me to call someone?" he asked, concern entering his voice. "A doctor? Your parents? A friend?"

"N...no... thank you," she got out, her voice still very light.

"Are you sure?" Ichigo asked again. "You don't look so good. I really think you should see someone."

"I... I'm f-fine..." she gasped. "I... just n... need to sit still for a sec..."

Ichigo frowned slightly, "You're sure?" she nodded and Ichigo sighed. "Fine then. Sorry 'bout bumpin' into ya."

"Hey Ichigo~!" Chirped Uzume as she walked behind him. "I'm done."

"Super," Ichigo grumbled as he turned to his Sekirei. "Let's go."

"Sure thing," she nodded before looking down to see a girl staring at his back, her eyes still wide in shock. Something in her mind gnawed at her that she should know this girl, but the different clothing along with the gaping open mouth and wide eyes averted any recognition she would have made otherwise. "What's with her?"

Ichigo shrugged, "I dunno. She says she's fine though."

Uzume shrugged back, "If you say so, then let's get a move on." She clutched his arm, and dragged him away from her sister Sekirei. "The movie starts in a half-hour and I forgot its a premiere! We got to go now to get in line!"

"Premiere?" His mind racked for more information on what was premiering this week but drew a blank. "I hope this ain't some chick flick, Uzume."

"Oh you'll love it, trust me." Uzume replied as she pulled him along, their voices trailing off before long as they disappeared into the thick crowd. Back near the door to the lingerie shop Benitsubasa remained unaware as she continued to stare off into the space Ichigo stood moments ago. A small crowd gathering around the shell shocked Sekirei with her bags and items strewn about her.

Finally she blinked.

"Oh... oh damn," she grumbled as her body continued to remain warm. "This... this is not good," she muttered as a hand came to her heart, pounding so hard it felt like it would burst through her chest. She took in a deep shuddering breath as she brought her legs tightly together as her mind replayed that man's image.

"Hey?" a voice called out. "Are you okay?"

She then suddenly stood up, looked around and to the crowds shock quickly grabbed her things and jumped high into the air, trying to get to high ground.

_'Where?'_

She looked around, bags in her arms as her mouth continued to suck in large gasps of air.

_'Where'?_

That... that... wonderful...

No...

She bent to her knees as she tried to bring up Natsuo's face before it was burned away by the image of that wonderful orange-haired man's face.

Again she stood and grabbed her things as she began to jump to different rooftops to look around, at one point removing her jacket; her body so hot the cold air wasn't helping any as she looked to and fro into the sea of people below, desperately searching for an orange color.

_'No...'_

Again, moments later found herself on a new rooftop, again scanning the grounds below.

_'Where?'_

And without thinking she dropped down, ignoring the gasps and screams of people from where she landed, not caring about the cracks and craters left in the ground below. As if a drop from six stories up mattered...

But still...

She raced for hours, looking from shop to shop, street to street, almost car to car.

...no sign of the orange haired man.

Finally, she found herself flat against some rooftop, where she didn't care, all that she could think about was that she couldn't find him...

And trying to deal with the fact that she was reacting...

Her body, hot, her heart pounding, her mind a wretched mess with one man on her mind...

And it wasn't Natsuo.

She curled into a ball on the roof, not caring at the snowfall, the flakes instantly watering as they neared her skin as her arms covered her head.

She shook, in some cases violently as tears fell as thoughts about her future and Natsuo conflicted with the loss of that orange haired man and an overwhelming desire to be whatever he wanted.

* * *

_Later..._

Benitsubasa stiffly and dazedly walked through the lobby of MBI headquarters as if on autopilot, unmindful of the stares she had received as she made her way to the elevators. The heat had subsided somewhat after an extra hour of looking for that mysterious strawberry-blonde man and she had once more donned her coat. Her pink hair was matted with snow and her ponytail was a mess as it fell against her back, water dripping off the ends every few seconds, but she paid it no mind.

In her hands the bags containing her gathered clothing meant to seduce Natsuo were also damp and weathered, but it no longer mattered as she pressed the 'up' button.

As the doors parted Benitsubasa's head lurched up and stepped into the elevator with the grace of a zombie, seemingly unaware of her actions. With the doors closed and her floor selected the slow hum of the climbing elevator did little to bring back the pinkette as her mind traveled back to four hours before. She had searched, poked and prodded every movie theater in a ten kilometer radius...

And no sign of the man with that shock of strawberry-blonde hair and piercing brown eyes.

She shook her head irritably, knocking the snow that rested atop her crown off. 'This is bad...' she thought as she brought her thumb up to her teeth, biting the digit in irritation. 'This is very, very, very bad...'

_'I... I reacted... And it wasn't with Natsuo-sama...'_

She moaned pitifully at the thought, clutching her free hand to her head. '_Damn it what am I supposed to do? This can't be happening! Natsuo-sama is the coolest man I've ever met! I can't have reacted to that... that gorgeous man..._' She sighed without realizing it before realizing her actions and smacked her cheeks with the palms of her hands. _'Would... Would that mean that man is... is cooler than Natsuo-sama?'_

She groaned, clutching her head slightly harder as she realized she had downgraded Natsuo status in her mind and worse - her heart. And she hadn't even been winged by the mysterious man yet!

Very, very bad indeed.

'_Stupid body!_' she thought irritably. '_We're so close to getting everything and you have to go and do that. Why... why wasn't I able to do that to Natsuo-sama before?'_

The ding of the elevator brought a brief pause to her irritable thoughts, and she continued to move towards her room. There were only four rooms on this entire floor of MBI. And they were all for the Disciplinary Squad members. She had released her hand from her head, but the pinkette was still biting on her thumb irritably and looking down upon the floor when she bumped into a familiar nuisance.

The girl stood there, slightly righting herself as she stared back at what bumped into her and smiled, bringing a bandaged hand to her mouth. The bandages , truth be told, were wrapped around just about her entire body, covered by a black Disciplinary Squad gi, this one only hanging off one shoulder with the white Sekirei Crest while the other one fell at her arm. A blue slash at her waist tied by two silver belts running parallel to each other. The gi continued lower, the front falling to her heels but exposing the front and sides her bandaged legs while the back fell and covered her rear to her heels, the edges of both sides tattered. Black boots and a thick leather choker with a hanging ring at the front along with a wild shock of waist length silver hair looking like she just got out of bed completed the look.

"Oh no..." she began as she ran a hand through her wild mop of silver hair. "Are you lost little boy? How did you get this far into a restricted area? Do I need to call your mom?"

Benitsubasa's eyes narrowed and growled. While normally never in the mood for Haihane and her mouth now was even worse. "Get out of my way, moron," she bit out.

"That's not a nice way to talk to someone trying to help you little boy," Haihane chided. "Do you talk to your mom like that?"

Benitsubasa grit her teeth. "Move or die."

"And now death threats?" Haihane sighed. "Young man, I'm afraid I'm going to have to wash your mouth out with soap if you keep this up."

And with that, Benitsubasa side stepped Haihane and tried to continue forward past the blades wielding Sekirei.

"Oh, young man!" Haihane called out. "That's a restricted area! You can't go there!"

Benitsubasa continued onward, ignoring the other sekirei's attempts at getting under her skin when she paused, feeling Haihane's hand on her shoulder restraining her. Her head turned to focus on Haihane, a menacing gleam entering her eyes. "Get your hand off me dumb ass," she growled.

"Just come with me little boy," Haihane continued on as if she hadn't heard the threat. "There's a flat-chested little monster that lives up here. And it would be a shame if it caught you, considering how much you two look alike."

A note of pure malevolence entered her voice at this, "Hoh?"

"Yes," Haihane nodded. "And if it finds you, who knows what it would do to you?"

"Is that a fact now?" Benitsubasa growled. Faster than either Sekirei could have anticipated, Benitsubasa clutched Haihane's head and squeezed. The sudden action caused Haihane to release her grip on Benitsubasa's shoulder, and she responded by turning around to face her. Taking advantage of the position, Benitsubasa's fist drove into the middle of Haihane's abdomen. The fellow Discipline Squad member didn't even have time to cry out as Benitsubasa ran her head through the door to Haihane's room.

"Would it be something like that stupid Haihane?" Benitsubasa growled as she removed her arm from the door and then proceeded to continue to stomp forward, uncaring if Haihane was alright. Although this was a known quantity for both of them, this had a bit of a harder edge than others would have seen prior.

She continued on in thought, frowning at Haihane's words while her mind drifted back to the orange haired man.

"Benitsubasa, there you are," a voice called out. Natsuo was walking in the same hallway on his way to greet her. An eyebrow raised as he saw her stomping her way towards him and sighed. Seeing how frazzled she looked he could only guess what had happened and the crash he heard was likely Haihane being on the receiving end of her anger.

Finally she was almost in front of him.

"We were getting worried," he said, smiling a bit. "You didn't check in earlier and..."

He trailed as she continued on passed him as if he weren't there and blinked. When he turned around she was already at her door, opening it.

"Benitsubasa?" he called out, confused, but she didn't respond as the door slammed shut. "Well... that was different." He blinked in surprise before walking towards the crimson sekirei's door. "Benitsubasa? Is everything ok?"

After a few seconds of silence he moved away, wondering what may have happened and if things needed to be moved up a bit.

* * *

Benitsubasa continued onward to her bedroom, unmindful of Natsuo calling out to her. Her well decorated bedroom was dark but for the city lights that somewhat illuminated the room. Despite the lackluster light she managed to maneuver herself effortlessly to her bedroom. With an irritated sigh the pink haired Sekirei threw herself to the mattress, kicked her clothes off carelessly and pulled the sheets over her body. Idly, a part of her mind realized she had left her clothes on the elevator, and she would have to get someone to bring them up to her. But it could wait as they were a reminder of her earlier encounter.

She sighed again as her eyes caught sight of the dim light of her alarm clock, the device reading one am. '_Damn... what was I thinking?_' she thought. Four hours of searching for that man and all he had to show for it was a burning sensation in her chest, a downgrading affection for Natsuo, and several bags of clothes stuck on an elevator. And to top it off, she was too wired to sleep.

Ha! Perfect end to a perfect day...

'_Well...,_' she reasoned as a hand snaked under her covers. '_I can fix one of those problems at least._'

And so, she allowed her thought to traverse to the man with the strawberry blonde hair and piercing brown eyes. Brown eyes that had looked at her in concern hours earlier, now in her minds eye were filled with a different emotion all together.

It would not be the last time for such a thought either.

* * *

_Present..._

Her eyes narrowing into pink slits as the memories replayed in her head, Benitsubasa continued to eye the pulverized remains of her training session. Unbidden, an image of the mysterious man as she so often saw him came into her mind: cool and collected, his brown eyes glittering with intensity and a confident smile on his handsome features, his strawberry hair bristling in her head . . . and incredibly, she flushed.

Once more her body felt a familiar and irritating head flow throughout her body, and once more she had to stomp out her reaction to the mystery man lest she had to go to her room to... relive herself. She snorted, quickly rising to her feet and heading for the showers. Entering the changing room, she quickly disrobed and grabbed a towel. Entering the stall, she stood with her arms at her sides, letting the water hit her chest and roll down her body, letting its warmth relax her and allowing her mind to focus on the biggest problem she faced.

Time was running out.

In less than a week she would be winged by Natsuo-sama. In about than a week, she would officially be a member of the Disciplinary Squad. And in less than a week... her fate would be sealed.

So why was she so damned hesitant?

She ran both hands through her long, bright pink hair, sighing in frustration as the answer came as quickly as she asked the question. The mysterious man she had ran into in a strange quick of fate and had yet to find again in three months. She was supposed to be content with how things were. She was getting all she ever wanted.

But yet and still, she wanted to see what could possibly be waiting with that man and his sharp, focused eyes.

"Ok..." she sighed out as she leaned against the steamed covered glass. "This is it... one last look and if I don't find him before the ceremony... I don't find him." She sighed as she folded her arms under her breasts. "It's time to either find my man or get over it and accept my lot in life."

Not as though it was a bad lot all things considered.

_'Ok,_' she thought as her mind calculated how to go about this effort today. '_As soon as I get out of here, I got to go over what places I've been and where I haven't been in a while lookin' for him. Also got to figure out where I haven't searched for my man and hope we hit something later on..._' She sighed as she shut the shower off, "Now then... let's see how lucky we get today shall we?"

* * *

_A few days later..._

The crimson Sekirei walked tiredly out of her room and continued her inelegant journey toward the elevator. Three days had passed, and still no more luck than before looking for her mysterious man. At this rate she was beginning to think she had imagined the whole escapade to begin with...

With a shake of her pink-tressed head the Sekirei banished those thoughts from her head and continued down the hallway. Such silly thoughts didn't need to occupy her head, she had a man to find, and she was going to find her man damn it. Whether he liked it or not. Sighing in mixed frustration and annoyance, she picked up speed only to groan as the doors opened and revealed a familiar annoyance.

Stepping out and pausing, the pale light blue haired girl brought a hand to her mouth. "Well, look what we have here."

Benitsubasa let out an irritated sigh, "Move Stupid Haihane. I got stuff to do."

"But I already heard you through the walls. What more can you do?"

Benitsubasa twinged in irritation as Haihane had apparently been listening in one of her 'meditations' again. "Shut it Stupid Haihane and move. I don't have time for your shit today."

"What's this now? Or lately, I should say. You've been away quite often recently. I would've thought you'd be counting the hours and jumping for joy when Natsuo wings us tomorrow".

The pinkette snorted at Haihane, "I'm ecstatic, you betcha. Not that I need to explain myself to an idiot like you. Now... Move."

Haihane stared at her unmoving for several seconds before stepping back and grinning while closing her eyes. "I dunno what you're problem is, but I'll enjoy watching you fall over yourself tomorrow."

"We'll see about that, idiot." Benitsubasa muttered as she stepped onto the elevator. "Just be happy I got things to do or I'd show you who'd be falling over themselves tomorrow."

Haihane chuckled as Benitsubasa stormed off. "I look forward to it," she said to herself before moving off.

* * *

Benitsubasa was perched high above on a telephone poll, peering around the latest no name town somewhere in Northern Teito with a thumb in her mouth, her teeth idly gnawing at the tip. Time was just about up! Above her the sun was setting, and soon she would be making her way back to MBI Tower and to her fate with the Disciplinary Squad...

...with Natsuo...

She took her thumb out of her mouth and placed her hand over her eyes and lowered her head...

How is it that Natsuo came to be thought of as a consolatory prize... and now an afterthought of one at that?

_'I mean, he's just too cool... that hair, his face, his eyes... his little problem... no... __**I WILL **__fix that! Ok, his eyes... a gorgeous brown, that face... his orange hair...-what?' _she thought as she blinked and looked again.

A blot of orange below.

Her mouth went dry and her heart began to race as she jumped down to get a better look.

Landing lightly on a roof of a one story shot she ran to the edge and gasped, her knees nearly giving out as both hands shot out to the small wall bordering the roof to hold herself straight.

_'It's... __**IT'S HIM**__!' _her mind screamed as her body began to heat up once more.

She peered over once more to see him and idly noted another with him, but at this point it was all beginning to blur with only his as the focus. Only he could release her.

Him... and only him.

* * *

Ichigo sighed a familiar sigh as the former substitute shinigami stepped off the train and onto the familiar boarding station in Teito. As much as he hated to admit it, it was getting to the point that Apartment Hunting was seeing to be a codeword for delaying the inevitable. For every place he searched that seemed decent there was a problem with the rent. For every landlord that refused to give him the time of day due to his looks, he spent another wasted walk only to give up and just go to Teito. Hell, Miya in her own subtle-but really not- way had made a slight jab at expecting her deposit from him within the next few visits.

And here he was hoping she wouldn't charge interest due to his frequent visits.

_'It's not so bad though is it?_' he wondered as he walked out of the building amongst the crowd. _'I like Miya and Kagari. The rent's reasonable and it's in walking distance from the station.' He gave a small shrug as his thoughts continued to wander. 'So why am I still looking?_'

"Hey there~!"

Oh yeah... that's why.

"Yo," Ichigo greeted as the reason for the apartment hunt came into his view. "What's up? You never greet me this early."

"Well I wanted to see you ASAP." Uzume shrugged. "Is that bad?"

"No..." Ichigo trailed off as he gave his Sekirei a once over. Due to the blistery chill in the late February air, she was dressed in a white parka that was slightly unzipped, showing her usual star shirt that she wore underneath. A pair of blue jeans and matching boots completed the simple look. "Just didn't expect it is all."

"Well what's life without it's little surprises?" she asked as a small grin crossed her lips. "Speaking of surprises... what'cha bring me?"

"A whole lotta nothing," Ichigo snorted.

"Stingy," Uzume pouted.

"I still have to afford a down payment on a lease y'know." Ichigo countered.

"Whatever," Uzume sighed as she clutched her ashikabi's arm. "I know you're not all that used to girls and all hon, but still..."

Ichigo frowned down at his Sekirei, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Uzume simply looked up at him and sighed again, "It means my dear... that I got my work cut out for me."

Ichigo simply rolled his eyes as they began to move onto Izumo. As Uzume began to inform Ichigo on the weeks happenings at the boarding house, the young man ruminated on how such simple things could become so complex. One simple quirk of fate and who knows how things could have tuned out for both him and the girl on his arm? It was somewhat pointless to ruminate on things that didn't happen, but considering the way his life had gone...

Still... it did nothing but bring him back to the question of the day.

Why was he delaying the inevitable?

It had been two months since he had met Uzume. Two months to get to know the alien woman on his arm, and to his surprise he was starting to find that he enjoyed her company. That is to say, when she wasn't assaulting his hormones like crazy he enjoyed her company. The girl was a mischievous spitfire, but had an air about her that made him feel so relaxed.

But still...

She loved him. She didn't always say it, but her actions screamed it. And Ichigo knew that deep in his heart her feelings for him were sincere. He knew it with all his soul. As far as she was concerned she was with her husband.

But what about him?

She had slowed down with pushing him on the sexual front, but could he be comfortable living with this woman while he was still so unsure about what he felt for her? Did a part of him already accept his fate and was simply looking for a place for them to call their own? Or did he simply get to comfortable with lying to himself about the situation?

Whatever the reason he had to stop this soon and make up his mind on where to go from here. It wouldn't be fair otherwise, for her or-

He stiffened. And beside him Uzume also came to a halt, her head tilted away as if listening to something before swiftly turning to Ichigo and found him turning to her as well.

"Ich-"

"Uzu-"

Uzume reacted just a bit quicker, but it seemed both had the same idea as Uzume grabbed Ichigo and hopped back a bit before a large crashing sound was heard and the ground beneath them jumped a bit.

Looking at where the crash came from both noted subconsciously that there hadn't been much need to jump back as whatever landed a few feet ahead of where they were at a few seconds ago. What they noted next was the hunched form of something, or rather someone, within the new five foot crater with a fist in the epicenter. Whoever it was, it was a female, slim with pink hair in a side ponytail which fell onto and spread a bit onto the ground. The palm of her gloved hand slammed into the ground with such clear force that a circular crater formed as the impact of her hand pulverized the first inch of the concrete sidewalk she'd hit to dust.

Uzume realized immediately that this was a Sekirei and stood slightly ahead of Ichigo, one of her arms just in front of him as she readied herself at the Sekirei who wanted to start the festivities early. The figure then rose as she braced herself and gasped as she turned around.

Ichigo stared ahead as well, unsure of what the hell was going on other than they were about to get in a fight. Why, he wasn't sure of, as wasn't this supposed to be a type of tournament? Not that it mattered at the moment as the pink haired girl turned to face him. His eyes narrowed as he saw that she was breathing hard but something was nagging him that she seemed familiar somehow before his train of thought was interrupted at hearing Uzume gasp.

Uzume stared ahead wide-eyed at the wearer of a Disciplinary Squad Uniform and that bright purple hair. She knew of MBI's dog and heard of the other two who were her subordinates and rightly came to the conclusion that the Sekirei before her was none other than the Crimson Sekirei: Benitsubasa.

But... Why was she here? And what did she want with them?

Or maybe...?

_'Damn it Matsu...,_' she thought worriedly. _'Looks like __**that **__is going to get us into trouble after all_.' And with that thought her stomach practically dropped that Ichigo was going to get caught right in the middle.

Ichigo's eyes narrowed as he shifted slightly as Uzume tensed suddenly. 'Does she know her?' A part of him wondered as Uzume's eyes had widened slightly and a soft moan came forth from her. 'Damn it', he thought, this could be-

"You!" The pinkette screamed, pointing at them. "The cow!" The pinkette then clarified as she gasped in some air with a bit of a twitchy eye as both he and apparently Uzume brought a finger to themselves.

Uzume's eyebrow twitched at the name, "...C-C-C-Cow?"

"Yeah you, cow tits!" Benitsubasa replied as she retracted her finger and clenched her steel-like fists until they were almost threatening to bleed. Joints popped and cracked just from her tensing and flexing of muscle as she glared at the Sekirei in front of her. "I'm only gonna say this once sow. Step away from him. _**NOW**_!"

"Step away from him?" Uzume blinked in confusion for a second before her eyes narrowed, "What do you want with him anyway?"

Ichigo frowned, "Who is she?"

"Just stay behind me Ichigo," Uzume replied, her tone hardening slightly. "This one's bad news."

"And just what do you mean by that?" Ichigo asked, his own tone hardening into what would be his battle voice.

Before she could reply, Benitsubasa charged closing the distance between them in mere moments. Then, like someone had fired her hand like a bullet, Benitsubasa's right palm shot out towards her face. Ichigo's Sekirei barely had a moment to raise a shield made of cloth to absorb the blow.

"Hey!" Benitsubasa spat out. "This isn't Q&A time! You better get back or get broke you oversized cow!"

"I don't think so." Uzume growled out, her left arm still outstretched and pushing the pinkette back. "Disciplinary Squad or not, you get Ichigo over my cold dead body," She grit out as she pushed hard.

"If you insist," Benitsubasa glared back with wide eyes and her mouth curving as battle lust began to fill within her. Her feral smile would have had bigger impact if not for the sweat coming down her forehead and her shoulders slowly rising up and down with each breath.

"Sure you're up to it?" Uzume sneered back taking in the other girl's state when Benitsubasa struck.

Pulling her fist back from Uzume's cloth shield she brought up her right knee, the air cracking at its speed as Uzume brought her shield again to bear, the impact causing the hard as steel cloth to ripple. As the impact was absorbed and Benitsubasa in mid-motion in bringing her knee back Uzume's right arm shot out, another cloth appearing out of thin air and thinning with a razor sharp edge and stabbed forward.

Benitsubasa threw her head back, the edge missing her chin by centimeters as she quickly pulled herself up only to duck as Uzume was able to pull back slightly and swing inward, again just barely missing her. The pavement buckled as Uzume completed her short swing inward and took one step forward with her right foot, using the momentum and the natural pull back of her motion and swung back outwards only for Benitsubasa to block her at her wrists with her own, the ground cracking once more as Benitsubasa's stance held.

Before Uzume could register her surprise Benitsubasa was already in motion, her left wrist quickly dropping under Uzume's outstretched hand and cloth blade and snapped upwards, causing Uzume's arm to go wide leaving her-

-CRACK-

Uzume gasped as she stumbled backwards a few steps and coughed as her mind registered the pain of the blow. She snapped her head up, waiting for the follow up and blinked as Benitsubasa stood there taking a few deep breaths. '_That'll teach me_', she thought. '_Doesn't matter if she ain't looking so good, she's still a member of the Disciplinary Squad.'_

She took the continued silence as her cue as she rocketed forward, ignoring the pain her sternum, two more pieces of cloth appearing at her back snaked ahead of her, as if reaching for her opponent. Benitsubasa sidestepped one and caught the other in mid-flight and Uzume smiled. As Benitsubasa let the cloth go it suddenly widened and encircled her.

Eyes widening at what was happening she suddenly jumped upwards, narrowly missing being wrapped up however her right foot got caught in the cloths vice-like grip and felt herself pulled downwards as she crashed back first into the pavement. Before she could even gasp she was already again in mid-air, Uzume swinging the girl up and at the apex of her toss again brought the Crimson Sekirei into the pavement, the asphalt shattering at the impact.

"GAH!" Benitsubasa grunted as she again felt herself being tossed upwards and ignored the pain in her leg as she concentrated as hard as she could and focused, feeling herself being snapped to the ground again. However, this time she was ready as both hands shot forward to absorb as much of the blow as possible, her hands sinking into the pavement, her face twisting to the side as momentum continued to drive her into the ground. At this point her arms shot back and out of the ground and grabbed the cloth at her right foot and forced as best she could a kipp-up and hopped on her left foot as she pulled on the cloth and shooting herself forward at her foe.

Uzume's eyes widened in shock as Benitsubasa rocketed towards her, the Sekirei's eyes promising pain a hundred times more than what she got as she crossed the gap between them in barely a second, her wrapped right foot arcing towards her head. Her shield barely rose in time however wasn't able to absorb the blow completely as her forehead exploded in pain as she realized her head was pushing through the asphalt as her momentum from the blow carried her several more meters along the ground before coming to a stop.

"UZUME!" Ichigo screamed as he saw his Sekirei plow through the ground. Without a second thought he was moving, charging towards the pinkette. Red had filled his vision at seeing Uzume hurt like that, and self-loathing at gawking like an idiot and doing nothing before hand. The rational part of his mind had attempted to console him, reminding him that what he had just witnessed was beyond him now, that he could just barely catch a few of their fastest movements in the battle that was not even ten seconds old at this point. His rage squashed that, this was his responsibility. The pinkette was here for him.

Benitsubasa smirked a cold, cruel smirk at Uzume's prone form for a moment as she charged, eager to finish what she had started before the man she had been searching for entered her vision. She hesitated slightly as he charged, his brown eyes burning with anger and determination. '_Damn it_,' she growled as she felt her body heating up. _'Not now!_'

Meanwhile Uzume groaned as she groggily pushed herself up on shaking arms in the effort to rise and face Benitsubasa again. _'Ah damn_,' she thought. _'That's going to hurt in the morning._' She winced slightly as feeling the wind whip her hair into a thousand tiny lashes that stung her tender face. '_Guess there's a reason such a low number was still able to be a squad member. That bitch packs a punch._' Her head turned slightly, and she let out a gasp at the sight before her.

Her ashikabi was charging at Benitsubasa, looking as if to barrel himself into her.

"ICHIGO! NO!" she screamed. Instantly she was in motion, throwing her body forward while pulling her arm back before hurling it forward, cloth hurtling forward. Had Uzume had taken the time to think and look, she'd have seen that Benitsubasa was in no position to fight, as she had suddenly hunched over with a hand on her chest.

Ichigo caught the movement out of his eye and instinctively dodged to the left, the cloth flying by him so fast it left a wind trail.

"GAH!" Benitsubasa cried out as the cloth wrapped itself around her and over her arms, pinning them to her.

"Don't...you... dare do anything you **BITCH**!" Uzume shouted as she swallowed as much air as she could, that last bit taking a lot out of her. But seeing that Ichigo was safe...

"Uzume...," Ichigo whispered before taking a quick look at the tied up Sekirei and then dashing towards his. "Uzume!" he called out again as he approached her and supported her. She still had a hand outstretched and her shoulders were still heaving as she was still breathing hard. Her head was still lowered though, bits of granite, dirt and concrete falling out of her disheveled hair with each breath. Ichigo blinked as he noticed that her hair was fully down, the scrunchie holding her normal side-pony tail long gone.

"I-Ichigo," she breathed, lifting her head up, smiling as she confirmed visually that he was fine.

"Uzume," Ichigo said again as he took in her face, also caked with a bit of dirt and what looked to be a bit of bruising around her left ear and cheek and grimaced as he instinctively pulled in her for a hug. It was here that he noted his own tight breathing and his fast pulse, not to mention feeling his heart loosen as he physically confirmed that she was ok. And with that he grimaced, angry at himself for being all but useless in this.

This... Just what the hell was this anyway! Why did this chick suddenly attack like that? Why was she after him? Was it that he was Uzume's Ashikabi? Did she want to fight? If so, wasn't this supposed to be some kind of tournament gig? Then weren't they supposed to wait to be called in somewhere to throw-down?

"Ichigo..." he heard her say again and blinked out of his thoughts as she stared back at him.

"Are-"

"I'm ok…" she said, cutting him off before wincing. "Except for a major headache..." she trailed off before bringing her other hand to her head and rubbing it before wincing again.

"Uzume..." Ichigo started again.

"Gimme a minute," she said before leaning into him a bit more and closing her eyes, her own thoughts mirroring Ichigo's of a few seconds prior. '_What the hell did Ichigo do to get the Crimson Sekirei after him? If she's not after me for the Jinki, then what can she be after Ichigo for?_'

* * *

At that moment the fog was beginning to clear in Benitsubasa's mind, however the effects that had caused her to falter still had her in a grip that wound tighter than the other's Sekirei's attack was doing now.

She continued to breath in deeply and moved as best she could as sweat was beginning to fall into her eyes, and the dirt and grime that accompanied them didn't help either. Opening her eyes as best she could she tried to focus on where he was at the moment.

It wasn't fair, her mind screamed at her. '_Damn this body! If I hadn't... If it just would... God damn it!_' she internally screamed as she tried and failed to break her bonds again. '_If I weren't under this stupid... I could easily..._'-

Her thoughts stopped as she managed to located him and winced once more before opening her eyes again. He was there, with his goddamn cow of a Sekirei with him. A part of her felt envious of the embrace he was giving her, and another half wanted to kill her for being in her rightful spot. It was then that he pulled away and both turned to her, though she noted that the cow was still using him for leverage-

Wait, was it just her imagination, or did her bindings loosen a bit?

She tried budging again, and though the bindings didn't seem quite as tight as before she still couldn't break free...

Another wave of vertigo hit her as she began to breath in deeply again and she lost sight of them as she closed her eyes to try to force the pain away.

"-nary Squad after you?" She heard someone say.

"Never heard of the-" She heard a male voice say before her pain cut it off, but it sounded closer.

She bit her lip and focused. That had to be him! She needed to focus! After what felt like an eternity she could feel her mind beginning to clear a bit again.

"-an't say I agree with you, as it'd be easier to take her out now-"

Wait, did this bitch actually insinuate that she could beat her? Again, she focused and realized that they were closer now. Much closer.

"-hen we better beat it now. Who knows when she'll snap out-"

'Beat it? Beat it, as in 'leave'?'

No.

No.

No.

_Nonono__NoNo__**NONONO**__**NO**__**NO**_!

_**NOOOOOOOOOO!**_

And with that, she screeched.

* * *

Both Uzume and Ichigo took a step back at the banshee wail that the Crimson Sekirei had just let loose.

"Wha- what the?" Uzume got out, eyes wide. Both had come closer to the bound Sekirei out of necessity than curiosity. That attack she had received had hurt, and her eyesight was beginning to blur a bit along with the pounding headache she had at the moment. Worse still was that she needed to concentrate on keeping the other Sekirei captured in her cloth bindings, and holding onto her from that far out was too much that she could do at the moment.

She had tried to mention to Ichigo about taking her out now while they could after best explaining to him who the pinkette represented, but he had stubbornly refused. Though trying to explain exactly why this was a good chance while fending off a head-splitting headache probably was the reason why her words came out a bit more harshly than she had intended and why he had reacted as he did.

Ohh... At the moment she felt like crawling into bed after taking some aspirin... At least afterward she could properly explain things to Ichigo. She was getting the feeling he wasn't quite getting what the Sekirei Game was about and how it handled.

With that came the suggestion to let her be and get out to Izumo. With the way the girl was reacting at that moment it would've been a simple thing to let her go and scram, but at the moment of suggestion the Sekirei was now screaming her head off and caught both her and her Ashikabi off-guard.

-RIP-

'_DAMMIT!' _She thought and concentrated harder, doing her best to ignore the pounding.

And so the bindings tightened ever more, but there was now a weak point in one area.

-RIP-

And with that, the pinkette's left arm tore free and her eyes focused back at her.

'_Shit…_' Uzume thought as the girls foot pushed off the ground towards her, arm outstretched and time seemed to slow down.

Her mind was already trying to calculate how much time she had.

None. It'd be over in half a second. And the look in the other girls eyes told her exactly what plans the Crimson Sekirei had in mind for her.

'_I'm sorry Ichigo_,' she thought, disappointed in herself. '_I'm gonna have to kill her._' And with that, she prepared to constrict the bindings enough to crush the other girls-

"UGH!" Uzume grunted, feeling herself being shoved aside. What could- NO!

"ICHI-", she screamed as the sounds of collision filled her ears before she hit the ground.

Quickly she turned as fast as she could, pushing aside a wince from her head pounding to see the pinkette toppled over Ichigo with her arm outstretched and gripping Ichigo's shirt. Ichigo himself was on his back, his right arm stretching back in motion to swing back at his assailant.

_'No time', _she thought once more as the shock and surprise she saw on the Sekirei's face gave way to recognition.

No. And again she concentrated, hoping to constrict the bindings enough to give him the edge.

_'Damn it', _she wasn't going to make it! The Crimson Sekirei was already pulling him to her, and that pull was sure to mess up with Ichigo's momentum for his attack and-

-SMOOCH-

"Huh?" Her mind relayed to her before frazzling completely at what just happened.

"..." Ichigo gulped out as his eyes widened as far as they could go as he froze up to the sensation of another girls mouth over his and doing her best to have a look at his tonsils.

Both just watched in shock as crimson wings spread.

* * *

"Now. Please tell me again exactly what happened?" An ever more concerned Miya asked.

As a bruised and dirtied Sekirei and her equally dirtied Ashikabi began to explain things again, Benitsubasa happily ignored the world and explanations around her. Contentment was the best word she could come up with at the moment after sheer Bliss. As the old woman talked to her cow of a rival she happily gripped her new Ashikabi's left arm with both of her arms and snuggled her face in his shoulder.

Oh, he is so cool! And strong too!

And now, she could look forward to the future.

The old woman would provide lodgings, but that didn't matter as if her Ashikabi wanted she'd happily use her MBI card for whatever he wanted or wherever he wanted to live. The cow to his right was now living on borrowed time, time that she would make excruciatingly difficult as she happily imagined waking her up in the dead of night as her Ashikabi screamed her name in pleasure.

And the Game...

Yes!

She could participate in the Game proper now. One Hundred and Seven other Sekirei just waiting for her to tear into. And sooner or later, Haihane would get hers. And Karasuba? The time would come when she showed her who was the strongest. But for now, she sighed in contentment as her Ashikabi explained things.

Now all she needed to figure out was why was the immediate area turning black?

* * *

The End?

* * *

Author's notes:

So here it is, the first of the Veiled Moon What-ifs. A chance to showcase other routes for this Bleach/Sekirei cross over to have gone about. We hope you've enjoyed this presentation. Wheeljack and I do want to mention that for our What-ifs, we do not mind if someone wants to try their hand at it.

These What-ifs, however, may have other chapters for that particular universe added if the mood strikes us.

For those who do want to adopt it I would only ask of you to please give us both credit, individually, for the idea and links to where our story is if they want to check it out.

As For Veiled Moon Chapter Five? It'll be out within the next few days so stay tuned ok? I know I've made you kids wait long enough, so a few more days won't kill ya.

At least I hope not…


	4. Sekirei Bios Part Two

Sekirei #84

Yashima

"The Shrinking Violet Heroine"

* * *

Japanese Name: 八嶋

Gender: Female

Voiced by: Hisaka Yoko(Japanese), Lindsay Seidel(English)

Ashikabi: Kurosaki Ichigo

Norito: "Hammer of my pledge, shatter the enemy of my Ashikabi!"

B: 85

W: 55

H: 86

Height: 5'2"

Weight: 43kg

Hobbies: Gymnastics

Favorite food: Strawberry parfait

Most valuable: Kurosaki Ichigo

Fears the most: Loneliness, Tanigawa Junichi

* * *

Sekirei Number Eighty-Four Yashima, is the third member of Ichigo's Sekirei flock.

Timid, shy, and a bit of a doormat, she and one other were taken under the wing of Sekirei Number Forty Five, Maki when they first awoke. Their adjustment to human culture went well if not for a few snags. For one thing, their tuner was short on temper, often leading to shouts and anger as Yashima could never acclimate to using her power very well without some sort of medium. With Maki watching over her those confrontations nearly erupted into violence after one session when Yashima and her other Sekirei friend could not handle their Tuner's instructions on their powers as they wanted and Maki swooping in to defend them from their Tuner's wrath. After a thorough investigation MBI had that Tuner reassigned and the trio being adjusted by Sahashi Takami and several others. The damage however, had already been done. Though Maki more or less took the event in stride it left both Yashima and the other Sekirei became more introverted due to their experiences.

Yashima has the ability to control the amount of gravity one has over an object, making it lighter or heavier. However, she has difficulties controlling this power and generally needs a medium to be able to exert this power in some fashion. Through testing, MBI developed a type of alloy that could help channel and amplify her power however instead of using to help her learn to use her power without a medium or giving her a proper weapon or material to help her learn MBI CEO Hiroto Minaka felt that an over-the-top weapon was exactly what his upcoming Game could use and thus a rather unwieldy giant hammer was made, dubbed the Gravity Hammer.

Though a normal average Sekirei would have no problems lifting the Gravity Hammer, along with some humans none have the ability to use it as weapon properly due to the weight and inertia issues when swung. Yashima's power nullifies these problems, allowing her to use the hammer as if it was weightless and had no inertia pull when in use.

Unfortunately for Yashima, she does not consider herself a fighter and only knows the basics of defending herself with brief flashes of brilliance.

Yashima's Norito would allow her through the hammer the ability to alter the gravity of the surrounding area of impact, the size of the area depending upon how much power she puts into it, allowing multiple targets to be caught and taken care of through the hammer's other less subtle and more obvious function.

* * *

Author's Notes:

Yashima... where to begin? For one thing, like Uzume, I had wanted to help one of the unfortunates that had a shit time in canon, and Yashima fit that to a 'T' ever since reading that chapter she appeared in. Those that know me know that I don't get riled up that much while watching/reading TV/books/movies as I can still separate reality from fiction and tend to look at the motivations behind the actions of said show/book. However, every so often there comes along something that will wind me up, and Yashima's circumstance was one of them. Though I do defend and like the characters of Akane (Ranma 1/2) and Naru (Love Hina), I recognize the genre they are in as well as what type of 'world' they represent. Yashima's Ashikabi, Tanigawa Junichi is nothing like that with this setting as a whole being far more serious and far, far from being any sort of slapstick or to be recognized as such. So the idea of Ichigo getting his hands around this fool's neck was rather... enticing...

And Junichi is not quite done yet...

I more or less was persistent (Ghostface would likely say adamant) about including Yashima, her being the second Sekirei being tossed for possibilities in being with Ichigo. Her winging order, after Ghost agreed was somewhat in doubt afterwards, with Ikki being the one that goes second once it was decided to use her.

* * *

Words from Ghostface211:

I don't really have much to say about Yashima outside of what Wheeljack's said about her already. I can tell you I see her dynamic in Ichigo's little group as being the Little Sister type. Considering how may of you guys approved of us taking her from Junichi, I'd say it's a well suited one. I also hope to show in the future Maki's interactions with Yashima and the sekirei yet to be named in the past before her untimely termination/death in chapter two. Maybe after a few more Veiled Moon chapters are under our belts.

In any case, let us know what you think about Ichigo's newest headache and thanks for reading as always.


	5. What If 2: Family Ties Part 1

"Che," a gangly orange haired youth mumbled as he stuffed his hands in the pockets of his open black Mashiba Middle School uniform jacket. He turned and walked with a slight limp that he knew would gone as he continued to make his way home. As he moved on he ignored the group of bodies that laid spread about on the ground behind him as he made his way towards the streets.

Spring was now in full force in the town of Karakura. The temperatures nice and even as it cooled now with the sun setting; the skies an overcast orange and the new school year was in effect. And with the new school year came old problems to this young man. However, as annoying as it was to him it was at least familiar and easy to deal with compared to what new problems had sprung up.

Then again, something that started over a year ago shouldn't really be called new.

He looked up to the sky and scowled, the color reminding him of why the knocked out idiots he was leaving behind attacked him. He grunted again as he made his way forward, slouching a bit more.

* * *

_Name: Kurosaki Ichigo_  
_Hair Color: Orange_  
_Eye Color: Brown_  
_Occupation: Junior High School student_  
_Special Skill:..._

* * *

The boy promptly ignored a pale see through passerby that was waving to him and trying to get his attention as he continued to walk home.

Yup.

* * *

_Special Skill: He can see ghosts & spirits._

Now wouldn't that be awesome if that's what this story info would lead into?

* * *

Instead...

He made his way to his home, a combination house and family clinic which his father ran. Going around the Clinic Entrance he took out his keys and unlocked the door and stretched, popping a few kinks in his shoulder.

"I'm home," he called out.

"Welcome home dear," A cheerful voice called out.

His teeth grit as he forced himself not to scowl harder than he was now, his fists balling as the more recent cause of his issues came out of the kitchen, wringing her hands in the apron she wore. She was about his height with light violet hair done up in a high ponytail with bangs that ended just below her eyebrows. Eyes that were the same color shone with welcome as she greeted him. A purple kimono was worn underneath the white apron she had sported, not so white as Ichigo saw splotches of what he guessed was her latest attempt at dinner tonight.

* * *

_Name: Kurosaki Miya._  
_Hair Color: Violet_  
_Eye Color: Violet_  
_Occupation: ..._

* * *

"Did you have a good day, Ichigo?"

* * *

_**Step-mother.**_

* * *

_Ghostface211 presents..._

_In Association with Wheeljack..._

_A Veiled Moon What If Scenario..._

_Family Ties_

_Part 1 of 2_

* * *

The eldest Kurosaki son simply grunted non-committedly as he made his way past the new Kurosaki matriarch. As usual, he ignored the disappointed sigh from the lavender-haired woman as he made his way towards his room.

As Miya watched him disappear she called out to him. "Dinner will be ready soon!"

"Thanks," he called back before pausing to glance at his mother's shrine and his face softened before going up the stairs to his room. Reaching his room he tossed his school bag into a corner and took off his black school jacket and tossed it on his desk before flopping onto his bed and looking up at the ceiling and scowled.

How much longer was he gonna keep doing this to himself? To her?

_'As long as I can,'_ a vindictive voice in his head smoothly said before he grumbled and frowned harder and closed his eyes. _'There's nothing wrong with the way you're acting,'_ it said again. _'She's the interloper after all…'_

He looked to the side and noted the calendar on the wall and the date. Almost six months. Six months since Kurosaki Isshin married the woman he had met while he had been off in Teito for some medical seminar for MIB (or was it MBI?) some four months prior. He grit his teeth, still shocked at what happened but at the same time not feeling he could say anything. He was responsible for all of this after all.

He was the one that killed mom and changed everything.

His fault.

And his alone.

What right did he have to butt his head into his father's business?

_'Every right. She shouldn't be here.'_

He grit his hands. This was getting old. He had no right to begrudge her and she had been nothing but kind to him and his sisters since the first time she met them.

_'But that didn't mean dad had to get re-married!'_

He shook his head and stood up and made his way to the door, figuring dinner should be ready now and to get to the table. As he shoved his hands into his pocket he for the millionth time since he realized that his dad would marry that woman thought how did this all happen?

* * *

-Ten Months Ago-

-MBI Tower-

"And with this we conclude the first half of our seminar," the speaker said in front of a podium into a microphone. The large screen behind him flashed with an animation logo for MBI. "We will have an hour recess interlude so please enjoy the lunch buffet, courtesy of MBI," the speaker informed to some cheers from the attendees who ad been watching, furiously taking notes on the new technology that this wonder company seemed to making on a daily basis.

"C'mon Ishida, lets get a-going!" One of those cheerful voices shouted as he grabbed a bespectacled white haired man who looked anything but cheerful as he was dragged away.

Above them along the catwalks security was making the rounds with gusto, having two important VIPs among them also making the rounds.

Two of the famed Disciplinary Squad, Numbers One and Five, were among the premises with security now. In actuality the entire Disciplinary Squad was on hand, called from the Director to have them begin more adjusting at the headquarters before sending them back to the island. The others were currently with Asama Takehito and Sahashi Takami going over the latest projections and tests.

"Does everything meet with your approval, ma'am?!" The head of Security asked the famed Number One, Miya. An utter Goddess in battle; this being, this Sekirei signaled the end of all opposition the moment she took the field. It was something that the others had seen in videos and feeds and could only gape in astonishment of what they witnessed.

No one was about to piss her off during her stay there.

"Everything appears satisfactory, Captain. You may carry on." She said and nodded before resuming her patrol, a break from the testing she and the others had been going through, and more to be honest unsettled as she wanted to go back to the island to shore up their defenses.

Down below Isshin had dragged his victim around the buffet, piling on the food and complimenting the chefs as the aroma had him licking his lips. MBI had spared no expense on the buffet, and it showed.

"You can't ::munchmunch:: tell me ::swallow:: that you aren't ::drink:: enjoying this, right?"

"Would it kill you to wait until we reach the table to start eating?" an exasperated Ishida Ryuuken bit out as they both made their way to a table.

"Quite ::Omnomnom:: possibly."

Why? Why had they both been called to the seminar together?

Finally sitting both men began eating in earnest, Ishida being quiet as he ate slowly while doing his best to ignore the conversation that Isshin had been trying to start. Joke was on him, Isshin would just talk no matter how much he ignored him. And so both of them and the hundreds of other attendees ate, filling their stomachs before wandering around the lobby areas were they were allowed. Both Isshin and Ryuuken followed to walk off the food, Isshin leading the man around to check out the ritzy atmosphere that they found themselves among.

It wouldn't be long before Isshin as he glanced around another corner found the veranda, but it lay among the area that had been set off limits to them.

"Let's go, Isshin, it'll start soon," Ryuuken mumbled, ready to get back.

"It's not gonna start for another twenty-five minutes, we got time. And it looks like a great view."

"No."

"Ahh, c'mon man, live a little."

"No."

* * *

A little bit away security had been watching on video feed.

"We have two near the off areas section in Wing D, send Tsukino and Kamiya to kindly inform them to step away please," the man in front of the feed said into the speaker.

"I'm in the area, leave it to me," a feminine voice replied back over the channel.

The man was about to reply back at being overruled when he recognized the voice and gulped. It wasn't his intention to scare the two that badly. For Miya, the idea that this would be a break in the monotony of the day never so much crossed her mind. Two people were in violation of the rules and she would lay justice onto them swiftly and severely so that they may never again try anything with such stupidity. And if they did...?

Too bad for them.

As she walked she found herself entering Wing D and two voices could be heard, one firm and the other...

Against her better instincts she waited and listened. Miya paused as she could not quite remember hearing anything quite like it. Shaking her head and chiding herself she then briskly stepped forward to make herself known.

* * *

"I know this is probably going to be foolish of me to ask," Ryuuken sighed as he followed Isshin. "But must you persist in such idiotic acts? It's one thing in private, but to be like this in public..."

"Oh would you get that stick outta your butt and come on?" Isshin sighed dramatically. "It's not everyday you get a chance to tour a hotel as fancy as this. I can't wait to rub this in Ichigo's face!"

"Yes... well your attempts to poke fun at your son not withstanding, I must ask why, exactly, are we really back here?"

Isshin grinned, "Souvenirs, more food, y'know the usual stuff."

"There's enough of that back in the lobby. Besides, that's not what we came back here for and you know it. Now let's go."

"Eh? But we just started exploring, why you wanna go now?"

"Because I know you. If I do not stop you now, we'll be late."

"If we're late, it'll be fashionable. C'mon man, where's your sense of curiosity? Of adventure? For all you know we could find that MBI's hiding an alien invasion here!"

"My curiosity is as dead as you technically are. Now. Let's. Go."

"So what would you do if that dead curiosity of yours manages to end the world just because you didn't wanna be late to the meeting?" Isshin sighed dramatically, "Where's your sense of responsibility for humanity my friend?"

Ryuuken turned to stare at Isshin blankly before turning back and started to walk off.

"Hey come back here, you're an accomplice in all this!" Isshin shouted back.

Ryuuken stopped and turned. "Knock yourself out." And then continued on.

"Fine, more bragging rights for me!" Isshin huffed. "Some father you are! Won't even take advantage of a situation to tease your stubborn kid!"

Not even acknowledging the man Ryuuken continued onward.

"Go ahead and be a fuddy duddy, Ryuuken!" Isshin yelled out, spreading his legs in a wide stance, leaning back a bit and pointing a righteous finger at Ryuuken. "See if I care! Cuz. I. Dooo~on't!" he called out, lowering his stance and motioning himself in a circle as he bellowed. At that point however Isshin would have continued on his berating tirade were it not for a new, melodic sound reaching his ears. Blinking in surprise, he turned...

And suddenly found it hard to breath for the first time in years.

Miya stared.

Isshin stared.

They continued to stare... Until finally...

"Ufufu...," a hand came quickly to her mouth.

What was this?

"Fufufu...mmmn... fufu." For a moment she seemed to convulse with trying to decide what to do, to let what wanted... what needed to be let out or hold it in.

Giggling won out.

Isshin stared at the woman, dressed in a dark hakama with a black skirt that showed off toned and powerful legs began to giggle uncontrollably before started to calm down to look the instigator in the eye as best she could and smiled. Isshin, still stuck in his pose could only find himself seeing only her.

And smiled back.

* * *

-Present-

Dinner was subdued affair.

At least, to one Kurosaki Ichigo it was. Around him the table was bustling with conversation, mostly between his dad and step-mom with bits and pieces of words from his young sisters added in. Or at least he had thought so as he wasn't really paying much attention to it as he picked his food and slowly ate and tried to block out the world as he attempted to concentrate on things such as homework

"So how was your day Ichigo?" Miya asked as she picked up her chopsticks.

The Eldest Kurosaki child shrugged, "'Bout the same as always. Had class, came home. Not much of nuttin'."

Miya's smile only slightly faltered but pressed on. "Is everything okay? You had a slight limp when you walked in earlier."

"I'm fine," he grunted. "'S nothing."

"Ichi-nii..." Yuzu said as looked at her elder brother in concern.

Ichigo said nothing as he grasped the udon noodles in his bowl with his chopsticks. As he ate the meal, his eyes widened in surprise slightly. "Oy... this is kinda good. Did you order out or somethin'?"

"Ichi-nii," Karin said somewhat surprised. "Miya-kaasan cooked this."

"She did?!" Ichigo then internally winced, not quite having meant it to come out like that.

-BOP-

"Ow! What the hell dad?!" Ichigo cried out, rubbing his head slightly.

"Ichigo," Isshin said gruffly and gave him a skewed look as he tilted his head towards Miya but still semi-glaring at him.

Ichigo gave his father a slight glare but turned to his... step-mother and bowed his head slightly, "...Sorry."

"Oh, my," Miya responded with a bit of a blush. "I know what I started with hasn't really been that good, but Yuzu has been helping me a lot and we've been learning together." As she finished she turned to look at the youngest of the Kurosaki's and Yuzu smiled back in return.

"Miya-kassan's a quick learner." Yuzu complemented. "And it's been a lot of fun cooking together!"

Ichigo looked on as his sister and Miya shared a smile and rubbed his head. He had known about Yuzu having needed to help the woman but didn't realize just how far she had come. Now in regards to his father, who he had turned back to face and glare at was now pointedly ignoring him in favor of his food.

That was normal, but the bop before...

Not that they hadn't traded blows before in the name of training, but Isshin himself had changed a bit since his... marriage.

Ichigo scowled.

Dad was acting like... like...

Like he had when mom was still alive.

Ichigo scowled a bit harder.

* * *

-A Few Weeks Later-

Ichigo and Tatsuki found themselves walking home together, Tatsuki's club being off for the day and Ichigo not so much as interested in attending today. Due to this, it was still midday and the sun high overhead and the heat just making itself known for late spring. Ichigo walked along, slightly slouching with carrying his school bag in hand flipped over his right shoulder.

"So what's up with you Ichigo?" Asked Tatsuki, her own book bag slung over her shoulder. "Everything ok with that lady your dad married?"

Ichigo grunted and the right side of his mouth dipped a bit. "It's fine."

Tatsuki raised an eyebrow at his expression, "Is it now?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" He inquired, curious to what brought this on.

"Oh I dunno," Tatsuki shrugged. "Ever since she showed up you've just been... I dunno... actin' a bit funny. Like you don't know how to deal with it."

Ichigo paused and Tatsuki stopped a few feet ahead of him and waited. "Does it really seem that way?" He asked her.

"Kinda," Tatsuki shrugged. "I'm not a shrink but... I dunno... it's like... she confuses you too much y'know?"

Ichigo grunted and then started walking again. Tatsuki shook her head and resumed her pace as she fell in step with Ichigo, "So how's Chad doin'?"

Ichigo blinked and felt a weight lift from his shoulders. Finally something to get off that topic. "Seems okay. Looks like he made a promise to not fight though."

"He did? To who?"

"His abobo or something. I think it means grandfather."

"I see," Tatsuki smirked. "Abobo huh?"

Ichigo shrugged. "It was spanish I think."

"A multi-linguist you ain't Ichigo," Tatsuki chuckled.

Ichigo smiled himself. "So it seems. So it..." he trailed off as he came to a stop, looking into the distance to see if he was seeing things right and his mouth parted slightly.

Tatsuki paused, looking up at her childhood friend, "What's wrong Ichigo?"

Ichigo didn't answer as he then sprinted off before he lost sight of them.

"Hey!" Tatsuki cried as she gave chase. "What the hell Ichigo?!"

If Ichigo had heard her he gave no indication as he ran across the street as the light signal began to turn yellow. 'Was that Yuzu and Karin?' he thought wondering why they were out here. 'And who were they with?!' There was someone with them holding a hand that he didn't recognize. He continued his run and increased his speed, now reaching the corner of the next block and turning, sure that he had seen Yuzu. Looking down the new street he paused and blinked, wondering if he was seeing things right.

Up ahead were his sisters and... Miya?

Yes, it was her but she was wearing... wearing...

Normal clothes. In public.

He shook his head; thinking that while she hadn't always worn her kimono he could count the number of times he had seen her in something else in one hand. She was wearing a long sleeve casual white blouse and dark slacks. On her feet were black flat heeled shoes and the whole ensemble caused Miya to have a classical aura about her the likes of which Ichigo had never thought possible. He just shook his head in stunned silence as he turned to see that Karin was indeed with them and carrying... a bokken? Since when did she have that?

"Hey!" he called out to them and ran forward to catch them.

Karin and Miya turned to the voice, surprised looks on both their faces. "Ichi-nii? What're you doin' here?"

"'What I am doing here?' What are you doing here? And why do you have that bokken, Karin?"

"I'm goin' to class that's what I'm doing," Karin replied as Ichigo and Tatsuki caught up to them.

"And since when do you take kendo lessons?" Tatsuki asked before Ichigo could blurt it out as she huffed a bit.

"For the past few months," Karin replied confused. She then turned to Ichigo. "You didn't know, Ichi-nii?"

Ichigo looked down at her and the confusion and small look of hurt tore at him a bit. No, he didn't know. 'That's because you haven't wanted to deal with reality for some time now,' his conscious mentioned.

The rise and fall of Ichigo's shoulders slowed as he continued to catch his breath. "No," he admitted. "I didn't know. I saw you all in the distance and thought someone was taking you away somewhere." He then looked at Miya. "And this is new."

"Ichi-nii," Yuzu then piped up. "Miya-okaasan usually dresses like this when she picks us up or takes Karin to practice."

Ichigo then turned to gape at her at this news. Just how much had he ignored?

Tatsuki frowned at her friend's reaction, "Are you sure everything's ok Ichigo?"

Ichigo just blinked, not sure how to respond.

Miya just looked upon him with sympathy and the uncertainty of how to approach him on this.

* * *

Ichigo frowned as he neared his home, idly popping his jaw and let out a sigh of irritation. That Yoko idiot's gang gave it a good go around. Still, those dumbasses were nothing compared to what probably awaited him now. "Hnnn... might as well get it over with," he grumbled irritably as he neared the doorknob.

Opening the door, Ichigo took a cautious look around. Okay the coast was clear. Entering his home, he carefully and quietly took off his shoes. He frowned and looked around for a moment again, and saw no one in the room. _'Now if I can just make it upstairs,'_ he thought. Silently he crept to the stairs. He managed to make it up halfway across the living room and was getting closer to being in the clear. Just a few more steps and then...

"Ara, Ichigo is that you?"

_**...FUCK.**_

"Uh... y-yeah it's me," Ichigo grumbled as he paused and then grumbled out another curse to himself.

"Ichigo, why didn't you-Ichigo!" she exclaimed as she saw his sorry state. His school uniform was torn and caked with dirt and she could see the bruises on his face and disheveled hair. "Ichigo, what happened?" She asked as she quickly stepped up to him to get a better look and reached out to touch him.

Ichigo turned away from her hand, hiding the dark look that crossed his features. "Nothin' happened."

"Ichigo," Miya's voice dropped a bit stunning him. He had never heard this tone before. "What happened? Who did this?"

"I told you nothin' happened," Ichigo responded, his own tone dropping a bit. "I'm gonna go lay down fer a bit 'k?"

The angry look in Miya's eye vanished as his rebuttal and confusion and sorrow briefly came to her face before she managed to school it. She took a breath and steeled herself for a conversation she had known was coming. "Ichigo... why won't you let me help you? Why are you pushing me away? Someone hurt you; I want to help you." Her voice then lowered an octave, "And I want to make it a point for them not to do it again."

"That's not needed," Ichigo growled. "I can take care of myself just fine. Jus' call me when dinner's ready ok?"

"Ichigo, please. Let me help you. I want to help you," she reiterated before pausing. "Have I done something?"

"Jus' leave me alone..." Ichigo growled. "I'm done with talkin'."

"Ichigo," Miya got out softly as he head lowered and he turned to move off. "I... I don't know what to do. Your sisters were hesitant too in the beginning... yet we... we've made great strides but you... you just keep pushing me away. I do not want that. I want us to be able to talk Ichigo but I never get the chance to really be with you." She shook her head softly. "I don't know what to do about you Ichigo but I want to help."

"If you really wanna help than leave me alone," Ichigo answered. "I don't got a thing to say to you."

Miya's eyes closed and sighed sadly as she brought a hand to her heart. "I... I'm not comfortable with saying this but I talked to Isshin about what this could be about and..." she trailed off, the butterflies in her stomach rising to what she was about to say. "Ichigo I... I never wanted to replace your mother."

Ichigo turned around, his face contorted with barely controlled rage. "You... you'd bring her into this?!"

"Ichigo, I-"

"Well let me make it real easy for you to understand, Miya-san... No you ain't a replacement for my mother. But that damn sure-"

-THUDTHUDTHUD-

Ichigo paused and brought in a breath at being interrupted like that however before he could continue-

-THUDTHUDTHUD-

"Ah, gawdammit all," he growled out as he turned back and winced before making his way to the door with Miya following behind him.

-THUDTHUDTHUD-

"**HOLD ON**!" he shouted back, in no mood for anything and ready to take his anger on anyone and anything. Finally he made it to the door and grabbed the doorknob, turned and pulled open. "**NOW WHAT-!?**" he stopped as he saw two people in front of him.

Two women with generous curves were at the door, however that was not what was on his mind. Both women were bruised and their clothes torn and cut with streaks and patches of blood visible. Hair disheveled they looked at him with rising and falling shoulders which embellished how they had made their way here.

One of the women was wearing...well; he wasn't sure what she was wearing or if she had lost most of it running from whatever it was that put her in this state. Torn and what he figured was once white clothes seemed to wrap around her upper torso, exposing much of her upper body and cleavage while wearing a daring skirt (surmising that was white too) with white boots. Chocolate brown hair fell from her head with her bangs matted to her sweating forehead which almost hid wide brown eyes.

The other woman was wearing a tattered brown coat with a hood. What rust-colored hair she had that was visible spilled out over her shoulders over the opening to her coat and she clenched at something in her fists, what he wasn't certain. She looked at him with wide eyes behind large glasses.

The first one spoke. "Is Miya here?"

"What is-" Miya asked as she made her way past Ichigo. "Matsu?"

'Matsu', the one with the glasses giggled as best she could. "Ha-hi Miya-tan. Long time no see," she then giggled again in a tone that Miya knew she had done something horribly wrong.

"Matsu and...," she turned to look at the other girl.

"Uzume, Number Ten," she said leaving Ichigo to wonder what the number was about as he stepped back to let the two in.

"Uzume," Miya repeated. "Both of you, come in now."

Ichigo stepped further back, the conversation/argument he had with his step-mother now a memory as the mystery duo and their current state of health now firmly on his mind. "I'll go get some bandages," he said and hurried off.

Miya turned to thank him but he was already gone. Glancing at the hall he disappeared to she turned back to Uzume and Matsu. "Matsu," she began in a tone that left no room for argument. A tone that would have stopped Ichigo cold a few moments ago had she used it. "Matsu, what happened?"

"Ah, Miya-tan, well, you see... Matsu did a no-no..."

"Matsu..."

"I'm back!" Ichigo shouted carrying several tape bandages in hand with some antiseptic and cleaning clothes.

"One moment, Ichigo," Miya said in that same tone and Ichigo did stop to stare at her. "Matsu," she prodded again.

"Ehhehehe," Matsu giggled guiltily with a wince and brought out her hands and opened them. In her open palms was a three dimensional heptadecagon consisting of an eight sided pyramidal shape with the addition of an extra eight sides between the arch and the base with what appeared to be a black sphere in the middle. Within the sphere was the numerical number sign eight.

Ichigo stared, never seeing anything quite like it. A solemn sigh broke his mind away from the object as he turned to the source. Miya slowly let her breath out, her eyes closed before slowly opening them to stare at Matsu. "Come in and get cleaned up. Both of you. I want to hear everything".

Seeing his step-mother acting completely different in her stance and tone Ichigo found himself wondering what the hell was going on.

If he only knew...

* * *

To be continued?

_Quick Author's Note: There will be another part to this posted. After it's posted, it will be free for anyone inspired to continue on with it._


End file.
